Stephen A. Smith Calls Out LeBron James' Agent for Michael Jordan Criticism
Michael Jordan and LeBron James are certainly among the greatest players in basketball history, sparking an ongoing debate over which is the greater of the two.
Many believe it’s Jordan because he impressively won six rings in two separate three-peats with the Chicago Bulls, his primary team throughout his NBA career, except for a brief stint with the Washington Wizards.
Others contend that current Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron is the greatest player of all time, due to winning four championships on three different teams and all of the statistical records he’s shattered. At age 41, his longevity and ability to continue playing at a high level against younger competition also factor into that discussion.
However, recent podcast remarks from James’s agent, Rich Paul, drew the ire of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who sounded off about Paul’s criticism of MJ, telling him he wouldn’t allow it.
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According to Smith, he refuses to let Paul try to diminish Jordan’s career in an effort to make his client, LeBron, look like the better player of all-time.
“It will never happen as long as I'm breathing, and I'm doing ‘First Take.’ You can scratch that dream my brotha. It’s never, ever, ever going to happen … You can try that nonsense some place else. It’s not working because it all comes back to ‘First Take’ baby. And I’m right here,” Smith said.
“If you lower Michael Jordan an inch in anybody’s mind, you simultaneously must elevate LeBron. Rich Paul will deny it til the cows come home. He’s got his podcast and plenty of airspace to do that,” he also said.
“But when you bring up Jordan, and you talk about [Scottie] Pippen and what Jordan wouldn’t be without Pippen. If they didn’t have Pippen, they would’ve had somebody else, just like LeBron had somebody else, just like Steph [Curry] had somebody else,” Smith said, adding, “It doesn’t take away the greatness of Michael Jordan, who by the way, is still the greatest closer in NBA history.”
During his podcast with Max Kellerman, Paul suggested that Pippen was the “most impactful” player on the Bulls and that, if he hadn’t been on the Bulls, Jordan would’ve been 0-6 in his attempts to win a championship.
Pippen joined the Bulls in 1987 as the fifth overall pick. Chicago acquired the promising rookie in a draft-day trade with the Seattle Supersonics for the Bulls’ eighth pick, Olden Polynice, and future draft-pick options.
And as many fans know, there are no guarantees that a team will find a star player at the No. 1 spot, let alone with the fifth pick in the NBA Draft. That worked out in Chicago’s favor, but many believe Jordan helped Pippen become the All-Star and Hall of Fame player he was.
Smith’s comments about MJ being the best closer are definitely valid after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was unable to finish off the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 on Saturday night in the Western Conference Finals. Many people were beginning to put SGA in the conversation as one of the all-time greats, until he and OKC failed to repeat as champions.
Meanwhile, Paul’s remarks may reflect his efforts to navigate the situation involving his client’s unrestricted free agency and prospective teams that might sign him for 2027 and beyond.
There’s no certainty that the Lakers will re-sign LeBron for what could be his last season or two in the NBA, as Lakers reporter Jovan Buhan reported that the team plans to prioritize signing guard Austin Reaves, a longer-term roster member than King James.
“LeBron can’t leverage the market against the Lakers the same way Austin can. Austin can go get a monster contract offer from Chicago, or a monster contract from Brooklyn,” Buhan explained regarding the two Lakers stars’ differing values in free agency.
With that, speculation suggests LeBron could join a new team to close out his career, whether that means pursuing another championship with the Golden State Warriors or returning to where it all started with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 3:54 PM.